Rapper A$AP Rocky Charged With Slapping Woman at Made In America
Rapper A$AP Rocky has been charged with simple assault by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, reports TMZ, stemming from an incident that occurred over the weekend at the Made In America music festival.
According to the report, the rapper (seen in the above photo from Made in America, via Instagram) was trying to make his way through a crowd of concertgoers when he allegedly slapped a woman in the face.
The woman, said to be a young mother, says that she was injured and now suffers from whiplash, reports TMZ. As for why he supposedly slapped the woman, TMZ suggests that women were grabbing Rocky’s shirt, making it difficult for him to get through the crowd of adoring fans.
It had been previously reported that Rocky showed up late for his performance at Made In America and was forced to play an abbreviated set, as noted in USA Today:
…it should’ve been perfect for A$AP Rocky to play the Rocky Stage — the main stage of the festival, dubbed so because of its proximity to the steps leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art that Rocky Balboa famously scaled. But the rapper showed up for his set 23 minutes late, which hardly jibed with that whole as-soon-as-possible thing that his name implies. A$AP Rocky may have shown up with half a set, but the crowd of rapt teenagers roared at the conclusion of each of the four or five songs he played, proving that you can take the round with the right hit.
No word on whether the alleged altercation took place before or after his set, or if it had anything to do with his tardiness. Rocky’s representatives have not responded to the allegations.
It’s not Rocky’s first run-in with the law. In December, he pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny. When he was 15, he was selling crack cocaine in the Bronx.
Rocky, a 24-year-old New York native whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, is best known for his 2012 hit “F**kin’ Problems,” in which he begins the first verse stating, “Hold up, bitches simmer down.” The F-bomb-littered video appears below.